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One of Britain’s richest women has accused Sir David Barclay of “forcefully” demanding money from her during a commercial dispute involving his son, Alistair Barclay.

Lady Bracewell-Smith, a former non-executive director of Arsenal Football Club, claims that the tycoon, who owns the Telegraph group, contacted her last year “to demand, in forceful terms, that she pay Mr [Alistair] Barclay a substantial sum of money” for business services that his son allegedly provided her.

The allegation has emerged as Lady Bracewell-Smith — the daughter of an Indian diplomat who married into the Bracewell-Smith hotels dynasty in 1996 — hit out at the Barclay